The present invention relates generally to battery tester chargers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for testing a connection of a battery tester charger to a battery.
Batteries may not provide the appropriate power expected or required of them for a variety of reasons. For example, the battery may simply need to be charged, the connection between the battery and its external wiring could prevent or hinder the battery from providing current, or the battery may have failed.
When batteries are not providing proper amount of current, they are often tested to determine whether or not they can be charged or if the battery has failed and is no longer capable of being charged. One problem associated with testing batteries is that the battery may be capable of functioning properly, but its connection to its external wiring is so poor as to prevent the battery from providing the proper current.
Poor battery connections can be the result of several factors. For example, because highly corrosive materials are associated with batteries, a poor battery connection is often a result of corrosion to either the battery terminals themselves, or the clamps attached to the external wiring to the battery terminals, or both. In some instances, the corrosion can be so extreme as to significantly hamper the amount of current a battery can provide to its external wiring.
Batteries are often tested to determine whether they are capable of being charged or whether they are no longer capable of functioning. A bad connection between the testing apparatus and the battery can result in a good battery being determined as not functioning. There is a need for an apparatus and method to test and determine whether a connection between the battery and its external wiring permits an appropriate amount of current to flow through it. If the connection can be determined to be acceptable, then charging problems detected by a battery testing apparatus can be attributed to other factors instead of the battery connection.
It is therefore a feature and advantage of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus to test a connection between a cable and a battery.
The above and other features and advantages are achieved through the use of a novel method and apparatus as herein disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a testing apparatus is provided. The testing apparatus includes: a clamp attached to a conductor for attaching the conductor to an object; a first sensor configured to detect a voltage associated with the clamp; and a second sensor configured to detect a voltage associated with the conductor at point located distally from the clamp, wherein the voltage detected by the first sensor and the voltage detected by the second sensor are compared.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a testing apparatus is provided. The testing apparatus includes: means for clamping a conducting means to an object; a first sensing means for detecting a voltage associated with the clamping means; and a second sensing means for detecting a voltage associated with the conducting means at point located distally from the clamping means, wherein the voltage detected by the first sensing means and the voltage detected by the second sensing means are compared.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a method for testing a connection is provided. The method includes: sensing a first voltage in a cable carrying current at least one of to and from a connection; sensing a second voltage associated with the connection; comparing the first and second voltages; determining whether the connection is acceptable or not acceptable.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described below and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.